quote:So it's not really fair to dwell on a player they almost drafted. But it's hard to ignore the shockwaves the Saints would have sent through New Orleans and maybe even the rest of the NFL if they had drafted quarterback Patrick Mahomes II with the No. 11 pick instead.

Payton confirmed Saturday that the Saints would have drafted Lattimore ahead of Mahomes -- but that Mahomes was the next player on their board and they would have taken him at No. 11 if Lattimore had gone 10th instead.

quote:When the 10th overall pick on the clock with the Buffalo Bills, it was unlikely the Bills would draft a starting QB with the expensive Tyrod Taylor already penciled in as the starter. However, they did need a Cornerback, so they had the option of selecting Ohio State’s Marshon Lattimore with that selection.

Instead, the Bills traded the 10th pick to the Kansas City Chiefs. The Chiefs went on to select Patrick Mahomes II out of Texas Tech as the long-term replacement to Alex Smith (who was traded to the Washington Redskins this offseason to clear the way for Mahomes as the 2018 starter). The Bills then selected their CB with the 27th overall pick in Tre’Davious White out of LSU after the Saints selected Lattimore with the 11th overall pick.

But, had the Chiefs not traded up for the 10th pick, it is likely the Bills select Lattimore with the 10th pick in the first round, leaving the Saints to go after their next best player on the board - Patrick Mahomes.

re: The Saints perceived interest in Mahomes...Posted by Alt26 on 3/9/18 at 9:25 am to GMoney2600

quote:Not sure if we would've drafted Mahomes over Lattimore, but I seriously think he would've been the pick if he was available & Lattimore wasn't. I think CSP even said as much after the draft IIRC

KC paid a ransom to move up from 27 to get one spot ahead of NOLA to take Mahomes. Now I suppose you can argue they did it to get ahead of Houston (who was right behind the Saints at 12), but they could have just traded with NO and done that if NO wasn't potentially serious about taking Mahomes. It was obviously a good deal for Buffalo since they took it despite the fact the #1 rated CB (Lattimore) was sitting right there for them to take. Clearly Buffalo had CB as a position of need since they ultimately took Tre White at 27 (which worked out GREAT for them).

Usually, when one team makes a trade in the first round it's in order to get directly ahead of another team who they think is going to take a specific player. Hell, SF did it to New Orleans last year when the Saints were on the phone with Ruben Foster. Again, maybe the play for KC was to get ahead of Houston. But I still think if that trade doesn't happen, Mahomes is a Saint.

The crazy thing is that the 2017 first round for the Saints could go down as the accidentally great draft. If the Mahomes rumors are true, then the Saints got screwed TWICE in the first round by trades...only to select their "second choice" each time which turned out to be the defensive ROY and full time starter at RT.

You showed how he could turn out to be a great pick for KC - I never said he wasn't; I said he would have been a terrible pick for the Saints. And he would have been - Lattimore and Ramczyck were immediate impact performers. We have our QB, and need to go all in for a run now.

I don't get why a lot of y'all seem to want to start planning for post-Brees life at the expense of going all in for a SB while the greatest Saint ever is still under center.

"Our QB" is set to be a free agent leaving us with an 18 million dollar cap hit if he isn't signed to a new deal before Wednesday. He can also begin to negotiate with other teams as of tomorrow at midnight.